Grindlebone Village

The Grindlebone Village project has been a long time in gestation. The project as envisioned will incorporate a tiny home/vardo village, cabins, a village green with outdoor performance space and public pavilion, an indoor performance and gallery space, an education and library center, and an event camping area to support at least four large public events a year, all with an eye to sustainability and with a strong Steampunk slant. Join us. It's another damn dream.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Here is a general outline of the proposed build sequence. Your input appreciated.

1) Site survey and stabilization: This is dependent on the site itself, but the idea is to do the work necessary to allow vehicles and construction to reach the interior of the site and to do a layout of the known proposed locations for construction.

2) Artist's residence #1: This is the first of two very small residences for artists working with the company. Prefab and quickly raised, this will allow a comfortable presence on the property during initial construction, a retreat from the weather, sanitary and limited cooking facilities, and sleeping space.

3) The Pavilion: Eventually this will be an open air public space for residents and guests. Initially, though, the Pavilion will serve as a shelter for construction materials and as a covered layout space for construction and assembly.

4) Establishment of water resource: This will, of course, depend on the space selected, but, be it a well, stream diversion, or cistern, this will be the main source of water during the main construction phase.

5) Parking Area, Road, and Tiny Home Pads: Creation of permeable parking, access ways, and pads for tiny homes on the property.

6) Caretaker's residence: Initially used for volunteer housing, tool storage, and as a construction office, the Caretaker's residence will eventually become the first permanently occupied space on the land, providing security for the site as well as a permanent voice of the Company onsite.

7) First tiny homes on site.

8) Resident's facilities building: Adjacent to The Pavilion, this provides a gathering space, laundry area, and library for the site.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Due to a lot of research and a need to complete some of our existing projects, we are completely revising our timeline and the build sequence for the Project. We will shortly be releasing our first fundraising drive for the project, which will allow us to create a legal entity for the project, as well as finance our land search and to stabilize some of our existing projects.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

So as we go into this project and begin our land search, there are a couple of parameters that we have for our considerations.

We will be seeking somewhere between 7 and 12 acres of property.

First of all, we have to be able to do what we want with the land. Ideal would be property in a county with no zoning or permitting, as is the case with parts of PA and other states. This would assure that the tiny home village wouldn't run into square footage requirements and that the experimental construction methods we're anticipating wouldn't be bogged down in red tape.

Second, since part of the financing for the project will be from events and educational projects, the land should hopefully be within 50 miles of at least a medium sized city, or at the very least in an area with access to major transportation facilities.

Third, while we have no problem being off grid, the availability of water, either surface or by well, is rather a must.

There are a few other things that would really be helpful. Land with owner financing would be a major plus, especially if the down was nonexistent or very low. This would help us maximize our initial funds and put them in to development rather than into land costs. Access to--particularly--broadband would be a plus (power, of course, we can do). Low land taxes would also help assure the success of the project.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Grindlebone Village project has been a long time in gestation. For those of you who know the cast of characters that has made up the Greylight Theatre/Grindlebone Arts over the years, you know we have a history of pulling off bizarrely large, improbable projects seemingly out of nothing. Over the years we have created theatre companies, renfairs, Burning Man style Raves, art shows, theatre tours, publishing houses, construction projects, role playing games, and a number of fairly toxic cocktails, all with only these two conditions: A) Is it worth doing? and B) see (A).

The project as envisioned will incorporate a tiny home/vardo village, cabins, a village green with outdoor performance space and public pavilion, an indoor performance and gallery space, an education and library center, and an event camping area to support at least four large public events a year, all with an eye to sustainability and with a strong Steampunk slant.

Why Steampunk? Because many of the Steampunk ideals of inventiveness, civility, permanence, self betterment, and exploration and adventure for it's own sake meet with our own attitudes and dreams. In addition, the Steampunk culture includes a number of technologies that greed and cheap energy bypassed historically, but were fully functional and viable.

Besides, it looks cool.

Over the next several months we will be doing land search, design work, crowd funding (you knew that was coming, didn't you :) ), and assorted scheming and twisting. We welcome your ideas, comments, and active participation. Join us. It's another damn dream.